A Promise to Keep
by Crystallight-star13
Summary: "Where's Lucy? What have you done to her?" "Why don't you ask her yourself?" After the disappearance of Vesper, Lucy was no where to be found. Fairy Tail was devastated at the loss of their celestial mage, but one mage holds hope that he'll find her. Sequel to S-Class but can be standalone. Rated M for language, mature content and I'm paranoid because there is no higher rating.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_Natsu leaned in towards Lucy, slowly kissing her. He didn't noticed her shocked face, just that she kissed him back after a brief moment. He smiled, then pulled back. "Maybe…" He looked her in the eyes, both of their cheeks flushed. "Maybe I do like you."_

Natsu rolled over, opening his eyes. His mind flowed with memories of her, haunting his dreams. Of course, lying in her bed didn't help. He looked around the room from where he lay. Her desk contained her novel, unfinished. Her fleuve d'etoile lay next to the book, where he had placed it when he had arrived at her apartment.

_"Lucy!" Natsu raced towards the collapsing mountain. Loke stopped him before he could go any further. "Let me go Loke! I have to go save Lucy! Lucy!"_

_Loke restrained him, constantly looking down, away from him. "I can't let you. That was her last request."_

_Natsu stopped fighting. He watched the mountain crumble, feeling completely empty inside by Loke's words He stared with misbelief that Lucy would do such a thing._

"But she would do something like that…." Natus muttered to himself, rolling over. He faced the window, noticing Happy sleeping between him and the wall. The bed still contained her scent, a mixture of vanilla from her fabric softener with her natural scent. He sighed softly. He hadn't wanted to leave her bed since he returned.

_"I'd like to pay off Lucy's apartment."_

_"It's not for purchase."_

_"Please, just let me pay enough to cover her rent until she comes back."_

_"If you have enough rent to cover one year, I'll let you keep it for two. I'm feeling generous today."_

All that money, just to keep her apartment. He had gone to his place only once over the last three weeks. Instead of staying at home, he kept her place up thinking she'd come back.

Happy had managed to get him to come to the guild hall once a week. Each time, Lisanna would come over and sit by him, hoping to cheer him up. He didn't want to be cheered up by her. He wanted Lucy to appear, but he would sit with Lisanna putting on an act until he could take it no longer. Then, Gray would yell at him for hurting Lisanna's feelings and they would get into a fist fight. Erza would break up the fight, but she had lost her hunger for her strawberry cake.

_Lucy beamed at Natsu, her smile providing light to the entire guildhall. "Natsu!"_

Natsu rolled over. He looked at her bookshelf, a picture of them, with Happy, in front of the guild. Tears began to stream from his eyes. He attempted to blink them away, but more fell. "Lucy…" He rolled over onto his back and put his arm over his eyes. "...come back to me…"


	2. Chapter 1: Emotions

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)**

**Author's Note: Hi guys! I thought I would keep this short and sweet. I hope you enjoy the first chapter and enjoyed the prologue! I have finals coming up in a week, but I do plan on writing more. I will update whenever I have the next chapter or two almost completed, that way I'm able to make sure what is in the chapter fits with future content. If you find any errors, or you want to see a specific thing, comment or message me. I'll be glad to try to find a way to put it into the story. If that doesn't work, I will write a one-shot! Please read and review! Enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Emotions

"He looks happy, doesn't he?" Gray sat down next to Erza.

"He's finally decided to move on I suppose." Erza took a bite of her strawberry cake.

"I guess everyone has found a way to move forward."

Gray and Erza watched Natsu talk to Lisanna and Happy. Natsu smiled. It wasn't his big goofy grin as before, but it was getting there, slowly.

"It has been a year and a half."

"Yeah, so it has..."

"It's not like we haven't searched…"

To be precise, Natsu searched all of Fiore and the neighboring countries for her. They had discovered the body of Lot, but not of Vesper, Aloin, or Lucy. They found Lucy's whip and an earring, but they hadn't found her keys, nor her other earing. No one had matched the description of any of the three anywhere any guild member had gone.

"I'm just glad that everyone is smiling again."

"Yeah…"

Erza looked at her half eaten cake. She pushed it in front of her. Juvia joined Gray and Erza and began to talk about the date that she and Gray were going on later that day. Levy sat next to Lily reading a book while Gajeel was out on a job. Cana drank from a mug. Mira polished some glasses while watching Elfman talk to Evergreen.

Natsu walked over towards the bar. "Oi, Mira. I'm heading out. Let me know if you hear anything."

"Where are you planning on going this time?" It wasn't a surprise now that Natsu would go on jobs alone. He would take Happy with him for some, but most of the missions he was hoping to run into Lucy.

"Ah, I'm just gonna go train on my own for a bit!" Head over to Lucy's is what Mirajane heard. Of course, she had never followed him so she couldn't be completely sure. The thought had crossed her mind though. She grabbed a new glass and filled it with beer for Macao while she watched Natsu stream out of the guild hall with Happy flying after him yelling, "Natsu!"

Mira left the bar and walked a third piece of her strawberry cake over to Erza. "Natsu appears to be rather happy lately, wouldn't you say Erza?"

Erza nodded, deciding to finish off her piece of cake in order to eat the next piece.

"He's been with Lisanna everyday besides his jobs and training. He still seems distant though…."

"Yeah… he was so excited last year. He wanted to get her a necklace she had pointed out when they were out one day for her birthday. That's why he had asked her to go on that mission with him."

"And how did you find this out?" Gray looked at Erza.

"Happy."

"Oh…"

"Well, Natsu was also telling me about this necklace," Mira said, smiling down at nothing. "He described it as this blue sapphire that glistened in the sunlight, rimmed by red rubies on a gold chain. You should've seen his expression!"

"Whose expression?" Lisanna sat down next to Erza.

"Natsu's," Gray replied.

"Ah…" Lisanna stared at the table.

"Well, I better get back to the bar. Lisanna, you care to help?" Mirajane asked as she headed back to the bar.

"Sure." Lisanna got up and followed her sister.

Juvia looked from Erza to Gray, her eyes laying heavily on Gray. "Well, good thing she isn't a rival for Gray-sama's love."

"Hey!" Gray moved slightly away from Juvia.

Erza laughed. "Juvia does have a point, Gray. Lisanna does still appear to have a crush on Natsu."

"Well, this might be problematic." The voice made the three of them look up at the person crouching next to the table.

"Loke!" Erza and Gray exclaimed.

"Shhh! Don't shout…." Loke glanced around the guildhall, checking to see if anyone noticed his appearance. Luckily, no one had.

Both apologized and asked what he was doing there.

"I'll explain later. Meet me under the tree in the park at twilight." With that, he disappeared into thin air.

Erza and Gray looked at each other curiously. Juvia looked completely confused, but brushed it off after a few seconds, looking dreamily at Gray.

Meanwhile, Lisanna was helping Mirajane in the kitchen. She was washing dishes while Mirajane put the dishes away. They had been talking about what had been going on with people in the guild for a couple minutes before Mira completely turned the conversation in a different direction.

"Lisanna," Mirajane's tone sounded calm, yet concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I… I wish everyone would stop talking about her…" Lisanna's shoulders slumped. Her hands rested on the edge of the sink and she looked down at her hands. "...I mean… she's been gone for over a year… Why does everyone seem to think she's going to come back?!" She let the dish and rag she'd been holding fall into the sink. She turned to look at her older sister, tears streaming down her face.

"You came back years later you know…"

"..."

"Lis…." Mirajane set the dishes down and walked over from the cabinets to hug her. "You love him don't you?"

Lisanna nodded slowly.

Mira held Lisanna as she cried."I… I wish he would stop thinking about her…. He doesn't tell me he is… b-b-but I-I know h-he is…."

"Lisanna," Mira said, pushing her sister away from her, her hands on her shoulder. "Natsu's doing his best to cope with his partner and best friend disappearing." She paused. "Maybe you should help him." She smiled at her little sister. "But always remember, whatever happens, follow your heart. Alright?"

"Y-yeah," Lisanna nodded, her tears drying up. She wiped the last of her tears away and smiled. "I'll do my best!"

"That's my sister!"

The two shared in a quick embrace, then Lisanna left the kitchen. Mirajane looked from the sink still full of unfinished dishes to the half empty open cabinets. A heavy sigh set in. "I wish she would've at least stayed to help me finish the dishes first…. Ah well…" Mira walked over the sink and picked up a dish and the rag. _At least she'll be following her heart._

* * *

Natsu sprinted through the forests outside the city. He had stopped by Lucy's house on the way to train. Nothing had appeared out of the ordinary but he had to replenish his stock of fish that had been depleted, mainly by Happy. Natsu hadn't been too thrilled by that either. He had beaten the poor exceed on the head before he stormed out, bought more fish, and padlocked the fridge closed.

He jumped from tree to tree, working on his increase in agility. He jumped onto the last branch. "Happy!" Natsu jumped off of the last branch into the air.

"Aye, sir!" Happy dove towards Natsu, catching him. Together, they headed towards the tree in the park.

"This kinda reminds me of Lucy…" Natsu looked around the city. "She would walk along the river there," he pointed, "and the men would tell her to be careful. She almost fell in one time, had you not grabbed her."

"Aye! She was very heavy to lift!" Happy continued to fly on, smiling.

Natsu smiled solemnly. "She wasn't as heavy as you made her out to be, though I could get a good workout just lifting her."

Happy dropped Natsu on top of the giant tree in the middle of the park. Natsu quickly jumped his way to the bottom, the lay on his back with his hands behind his head. He looked up at the leaves waving in the wind, to the sky above. "Lucy…" He closed his eyes as Happy lay on the ground next to him.

Wherever Lucy was at that point in time, she sneezed. She looked into her tea and thought, _They're talking about me._


	3. Chapter 2: The Promise

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)**

**_Author's Note:_ I took a break from studying to work on this. Circuit Analysis was hurting my brain too much. I really wanted to get this chapter posted before I end up being brain dead because of finals. I enjoyed writing this chapter because it's helping me develop which characters I want to focus on and how I want them to interact with each other. I hope you guys enjoy this too! Please leave a comment or something if you like! I kind of need to get back to studying now, so without further adieu:  
**

Chapter 2: The Promise

Lisanna paused by a bench in the park. She hunched over, catching her breath. She had to find Natsu. She had to tell him how she felt. She wanted to help him move forward from the past he appeared to be stuck in. She sat down on the bench, closing her eyes. Breathe, she thought to herself. Calm your breaths and then go look for him.

Once her breathing calmed, she opened her eyes to see Happy lying on the ground by the big tree, his blue fur extremely hard to miss. She stood up, stretched her limbs, and walked towards Happy. She noticed Natsu laying next to him on the other side of the tree. "Natsu! Happy!"

Natsu turned his head to look in the direction of the person who called his name to see Lisanna waving. He nudged Happy, motion for him to look in that direction.

Lisanna watched him smiling, a hint of sadness still lingering in his eyes. She sat down next to him, staring at the grass. "You still miss her don't you?" she asked, solemnly.

Natsu remained silent. He didn't want to hurt Lisanna's feelings anymore than he already had. Slowly, he nodded. "Yeah. Everyone does though."

"I'm sure that she's happy wherever she is though."

"I hope so."

A long, slightly awkward silence fell between the two.

"Hey, do you remember when we were kids, raising Happy?"

"Yeah."

"I was wondering," Lisanna spoke, her voice growing softer. "If…" Her voice barely above a whisper that only Natsu could hear. "If you liked me…"

"Why wouldn't I like you, Lisanna? We've been friends forever." He smiled softly.

"You're just as dense as ever… I like you Natsu… I think… I… I love you."

Natsu rolled over onto his side, his back facing Lisanna. He remained silent.

"Lucy hasn't come back. She hasn't contacted. She hasn't said a word to anyone. Not one of her spirits have appeared. "

"Lucy would never do anything without a reason. She will come back…" Especially because of what she said, Natsu thought. He closed his eyes again.

"But you don't sound so certain that she will anymore…"

"I…" He didn't know how to respond. "We can still hangout okay? I'm going to go train for awhile on my own. Happy, you can stay here with Lisanna."

Natsu jumped up, dashing off through Magnolia to clear his head. _Forget about Lucy and go for Lisanna?_ he thought to himself. "Not possible!" He slammed his fist into the nearest tree as he stopped along the edge of the eastern forest.

_"Natsu," Lucy looked longingly into his eyes. "I'll come back to you. I promise."_

* * *

The sun had begun to set when Lisanna returned to the guild. Mirajane sighed as she watched her youngest sibling sulk over to the bar with Happy following behind. Erza turned away from the bar to look in that direction.

"You okay Lisanna?" Erza asked between rushed bites of her strawberry cake.

"I'm fine." She sighed in response, plopping down onto a seat. "It's just been a long day."

"Nnnn…" Erza nodded, finishing the last bite.

"Do you want to talk about it right now?" Mira asked.

"Ehh…. not right now. I still need to think…" She lay her head down on her crossed arms and clossed her eyes.

"Well," Erza looked from Lisanna to Mira, "you can give her the last piece of the cake. I can't eat another bite tonight."

Mira smiled thoughtfully. "Sure!" She quickly walked to the kitchen to grab the last piece of today's strawberry cake.

"Welp, I'm going to get going now." Erza stood up, stretching. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

As Erza walked out of the guildhall, Gray stood up and yawned. "I'm gonna call it a night, guys." Juvia slunk after Gray all the way to the doors, then disappeared in her own direction for a nice, warm bubble bath. (Who says a girl made 100% of water can't enjoy bubble baths?)

"What's up with those guys?"

Mira shrugged. "Sometimes I don't even know."

* * *

Happy flew above the town around the eastern forest, looking for Natsu. He had flown everywhere, except the forest. He didn't want to even look through there, knowing full well Natsu would show up when he was ready to.

_The two sat quietly under the tree for a while after Natsu had left. Happy had been entertaining Lisanna with stories of Charle and what he wanted to do for her._

_"You're so romantic, Happy. How come Natsu isn't the same way even though you two are the closest?"_

_"..."_

_"I guess he's just not that kind of person."_

_"Nastu loves you." Happy looked at Lisanna with calm, caring eyes._

_"But in what way, Happy?" Lisanna reached towards him and picked him up._

_"...Like family!"_

She had sighed after that. Happy knew exactly how Natsu felt about both Lisanna and Lucy. He had noticed over the years that Lucy became more prominent in his life. He wanted both girls to be happy. He wanted Natsu to be happy. But if Lucy didn't return, couldn't Lisanna make Natsu just as happy as Lucy had?

Happy gave up on thinking and headed for Lucy's. His head hurt and fish sounded like a good cure for a headache.

* * *

Erza walked through the streets towards the park. She stopped in front of a small shop, admiring the blue and red in the window. She was too busy checking the price to notice Gray walk up behind her.

"Fancy meeting you here."

"Huh?" Erza turned towards Gray, who stood on her right.

"Dress shopping before we're supposed to be meeting up with Loke?"

"Ah… yeah." She turned back towards the dress. "More like window shopping though."

Gray looked towards the sunset. "It's time."

Erza only nodded.

Both remained silent as they walked towards the park together. Unspoken thoughts resounded between them. Is Lucy actually alive? Will she come back? Is she in trouble? The most important question that lay before them was what they should do about Natsu.

The two found Loke standing under the tree waiting for them, no one else left in the park. As if in response to their main concern, he said, "You must tell no one what I'm about to tell you."


	4. Chapter 3: A Truly Caring Friend

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)**

**_Author's Note:_ Finals are over! And I passed that stupid class. -sigh- Thank the Lord! So, I've had time to work on this, and I'm not too sure I'm completely happy with this chapter, but ah, can't like everything I write. That's just how it goes. I really struggled with writing Natsu's character in this chapter. I hope to not have that problem for the next few chapters. I'll try to post sometime every week now that I only have summer classes and work, but it might be every two weeks as I'm also working on cosplays for Anime Midwest. And don't worry, you'll get to see Lucy a bit more in the next few chapters. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

Chapter 3: A Truly Caring Friend

"She did what?!" Gray punched the tree.

"Gray," Erza lay a hand on his shoulder. "She had a very good reason to do what she did."

Gray relaxed, still slightly tense. "I know she did what she thought was best, but really?" He shook his head. "She's as bad as Natsu."

Loke laughed slightly. "I wouldn't say she's that bad."

Both turned back to Loke, remaining quiet.

"Alright, Alright. She might be."

Gray nodded. "Now, what exactly happened back there?"

"I had designed the plan to blow up the magma core. I was going to stay behind to set it off and disappear through the gate before the place actually blew up, but she refused. She knew that Vesper would leave the guild alone if she went with him. He didn't see that explosion coming though." Loke began to pace back and forth. "She was to go with him willingly, gathering information, mainly to find his weakness. If all had gone according to plan, we were to meet up in Crocus five months ago in order to find a way to bring you all into the project." He stopped pacing. "She never showed, but I was able to receive word from her a few days ago via Yukino. It's dated a year ago."

* * *

Lisanna walked briskly to the guild hall. The sun shone bright in the early morning sky. Her - hair reflected brilliantly in the sunlight with her - dress flowing through the breese. Although her sight was focused, her mind was scattered by thoughts of what she should do.

_I should apologize,_ she thought. She felt bad for telling Natsu what she thought she saw. She had been able to tell that he had been head-over-heals for Lucy once they had returned from Edolas. Hell, she had even noticed during the Grand Magic Games! She thought they would make an adorable couple, but she hadn't been able to stop thinking that it could've been her.

"Ah, well... I got my answer. I'll just have to support his choices," she murmured to herself as she approached the guild hall doors.

As she opened the doors, her heart began to beat extremely fast at the sight of Natsu standing in front of the doors. "I've been waiting for you. Can we talk outside?"

She nodded slowly, glancing at Happy who sat over by Mira. Mira glanced her way sending her a soft, comforting smile. Lisanna turned quickly following him out.

After walking about 500 ft from the doors, he veered off towards the river, choosing to sit on the edge. He waited for Lisanna to sit down.

His shoulders were tense. He looked quite a bit out of his comfort zone. "Are you alright Natsu?" She asked quietly, taking a seat next to him.

"Yeah...I, uh..."

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday," she blurted out. "I shouldn't have implied that Lucy may not come back. It's just you've... the guild has searched everywhere... that maybe she did die in the explosion. At least, that thought has been going through my mind lately..." Lisanna stared at her her hands sitting on her lap.

"It's fine." Natsu looked out over thr water. "I've had similar thoughts myself." His voice sounded distant. "Did she disappear just like Igneel? Will I see either one of them again?" He paused. "I'm not really sure sometimes anymore..."

Lisanna remained quiet. She closed her eyes, letting her mind absorb Natsu's words.

After sitting quietly for a moment, Natsu suddenly turned to look at her. "I do like you, but..."

"Like a sister," she finished for him. "You truly love Lucy, don't you?" She stood up. "And you just realized your feelings before you two were separated. I understand." She turned and smiled at him. "I want to help you find her. I want to see you truly smile again."

"Really?" Natsu's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Really."

* * *

Lucy stood looking out the window of the room she had been 'given'. The sun rose over the horizon, a meadow full of lush grass running towards a river. The river ran towards the sea in the middle of the peninsula.

"I miss Fiore," she mumbled to herself as she turned away from the window. She hadn't come to the Pergrande Kingdom willingly. She had left with Vesper willingly at first, but once she learned they were to travel to a foreign country, she attempted to escape quite a few times. Without her keys or her whip, he was able to overpower her easily. She had managed to leave a note for Loke though. She had to send it to Yukino. She had sent the message before they had left Minstrel heading through Bellum towards their current location.

Softly she sighed as she moved towards her bed. It was a queen sized bed, covered with a white and gold-leaved comforter. An assortment of pillows sat at the head of the bed, adding splashes of blue, red, and orange to an almost blank pallet.

Lucy collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the white ceiling. "Natsu…"

_She slowly opened her eyes to a blurry face. Without time to register who it was, his lips pressed against hers gently. "N-Natsu…" Her voice was barely a whisper._

_He began to pull away at the sound of her voice. She refused, pulling him back to her for another kiss._

Her heart began to race, thinking about that moment. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out. She let go of the passionate kiss they shared, letting her mind wander to a couple hours before that kiss.

_"Lucy…"_

_"Hmm?" She looked up towards his black eyes with her own tired brown eyes._

_"I…" His face turned a bright shade of red._

_"Sit down." She smiled softly to him. "You have to be tired after all that…"_

* * *

"...running after her. That's what he'll do. Just go running in without a damn plan. We can't let him do that."

"Gray, that's obvious." Erza sighed. "We shouldn't be discussing this around here anyway."

"Discussing what around here?" Levy appeared with Gajeel following close behind.

"When Gray is finally going to tell Juvia how he feels about her." Erza responded coolly.

"You!" Gray almost jumped her at that point. He calmed down quickly, glancing around to check that Juvia had not appeared at the guild yet.

Levy raised an eye at this. She said nothing more as she sat down next to Erza. Gajeel pulled up a chair. Both looked at each other quietly before they turned to the other two who sat in an awkward silence.

"Gajeel could hear what you were talking about." Levy whispered quietly.

Erza and Gray looked at her, a little shocked.

"You seem to forget that I have excellent hearing. You better be glad that Lisanna and Flamebrain went somewhere to talk." He paused, letting them share a stare of worry. "We want to help."

Erza sighed. "We'll have to talk to Loke about it. Meet us by the tree in the park at dusk."

"Two evening meetings in a row," Gray muttered to himself. "Juvia isn't going to be happy about tonight…."

Gajeel looked at him. "Were you planning on taking the lady out?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah. I was."


	5. Chapter 4: Relics

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)**

**_Author's Note:_ So, I've been debating with myself over whether I want to introduce new OC's or not. I still haven't decided yet. I hope you guys enjoy this little chapter. I'm really trying to stay true to character, but I'm finding writing a bit hard right now. I'm just running out of ideas currently... I have things for future chapters, just not the next few. And the new chapter! I can't wait for the next one. I really can't! Anyway, I really hope you guys are enjoying this! Please R&amp;R! Bon soir!**

Chapter 4: Relics

Lucy ran through the meadow towards the river, her blonde hair flowing behind her. Once she reached the banks, she sat down on the bank and let her feet dip into the water. She had come outside to enjoy the gorgeous day. The sun sat high in the sky, with white cottonball clouds. She would've loved to go shopping, but the nearest town was two miles downstream.

She smiled at the water, hoping one of her friends would be able to notice. The water flowed smoothly over the rocks that served as stepping stones to the other side. The calmness of nature calmed her mind from all the turmoil surrounding her.

_"Don't touch me!" Lucy swatted Vesper's hand away from her arm._

_"My dear Lucy, you really think I want to hurt you?" He sat down on the couch. "Don't you think I have feelings too?"_

_"I only came with you to keep you from demolishing Fiore. I will not, cannot, ever care for you, you bastard!" She smacked him, leaving an imprint on the side of his face._

_As she left the room, she could feel his eyes burning into her back. "You'll regret that."_

"I only regret one thing," Lucy muttered to herself. She actually enjoyed travelling to all these different countries. Vesper had started to treat her properly after she quit attempting to escape. He had, of course, attempted to take advantage of her quite a few times, but after their fight, he hadn't come near her, nor did she ever go near him. She would stay in her room for hours on end when he was staying at his house, just to avoid him. "Bastard. Don't think I won't forget what you're still attempting to do."

She stood up and began to jump across the river from rock to rock. The river spanned twice her height and the rocks were about a foot wide. Someone had placed the rocks there on purpose long before her current residence had ever existed, and before towns and cities had begun to pop up along the river.

As she moved towards the middle of the river, she noticed something glittering in a crack in one of the stones ahead. She hurried towards it and pulled it out. She gasped slightly, almost losing her footing. Quickly, she jumped to the other bank, sitting on quickly on her knees in the soft grass. She looked down at the key in her hands. Tears filled her eyes as she slowly bent over, clutching the key to her chest. Someone had noticed her smiling. Now they had the chance to notice tears of happiness and sadness mixing into one.

* * *

Natsu sprinted past the park, along the river. The ends of his scarf flew behind him. A grin had spread wide across his face as soon as he had left the guild, having completed his last mission before he, Happy, and Lisanna started on their quest to find Lucy. Happy flew behind him through the warm air. The warm front moving through brought the sea breeze from the coast of Hargeon Town.

The two moved quickly through the dimly lit streets suddenly stopping in front of Lucy's apartment building. Even though he hadn't seen her for a year and a half, he felt good about tonight. He had finally purchased the necklace he had wanted to give her for her birthday when he had arrived back after his last mission, ready to present it to her once she arrived back in Magnolia.

Since the window wasn't open, he pulled out the key. Barely able to contain his excitement, he almost dropped the key, catching it before it hit the ground. He opened the door and walked into the living room. He still couldn't get used to her not being her. It had broken his heart initially, but he eventually let himself be happy after having searched for her. He had a feeling she would show up when she wanted to.

He looked around the clean room. He preferred to not clean, but this was Lucy's place. He could at least keep her place clean and not dusty. The couch looked sat on, the table used. Natsu looked out the window before he moved through the kitchen towards her bedroom.

He slowly felt his energy start to drain. He wished for her to be sleeping in her bed, but he knew she wouldn't be. His shoulders slumped and his pace slowed. A melancholic look returned to his eyes. He could finally relax and let memories of her run around in his head.

_Lucy sat on the couch, laughing with Levy. They had been talking all night about this, that, and the other when he crept quietly out of her bedroom. He smiled, knowing that Lucy wouldn't be in her bed for quite some time so he could sleep there. He crept slowly back into her room, praying to the heavens that Happy would not burst through the door, catching Lucy's attention._

As he walked into her room, he stopped moving, staring directly at her desk. Something was different. He picked up the scent of Loke. "That can't be right," he said to himself. Why would Loke have come? There wasn't a fresh scent of Lucy and the Loke's scent smelled faint, as if he had appeared days ago, after Natsu had left on his last mission.

Natsu's eyes drifted from her novel towards a brown pouch. He walked over and stared at it for a few minutes. Happy floated in behind him after having finished off the fish they had left in the refrigerator. He looked at the pouch, picked it up, and opened it. Keys fell out, Lucy's keys.

**A/N: What key should Lucy have come across? I'd like to hear what you think.**


	6. Chapter 5: Patience

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)**

**_Author's Note:_ I've been slow busy... I didn't know that my summer classes would take up most of time. I didn't have time to work on this, nor my cosplays for Anime Midwest... I did manage to get a Holo cosplay done (from Spice and Wolf) and at least add to this chapter. I just finished my last class yesterday and finally found time to proofread this. I hope you guys like it! I know I'm kinda slow on the action, but I'm still working on those chapters. I haven't gotten a good grasp of how I want to present the fights yet. Thanks for being patient with me! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5: Patience

Natsu slammed his hand down on the table, jostling drinks, plates, and Lucy's pouch. "What do you mean you've known about this for a while now?!"

Gray glared at Natsu, slightly irritable by his rash behavior as always while Erza responded, "We were informed to not tell you until the time was deemed necessary. I had no idea that this is what Loke meant."

Natsu's eyes flared. "Where is that bastard!?" He began to charge around the guild hall, knocking tables, chairs, and everything else down.

Gray jumped up out of his chair, punching him to the ground. "That's not going to get him to show up!" His eyes looked like ice, and his clothes had mysteriously disappeared again.

"You got any better ideas?!" He hopped back up and stuck his face right in front of Gray's.

Erza glared at the two. "We're supposed to meeting Loke tomorrow to plan. You can hold off until then and not fight!" Both cowered under the wrath of Erza.

Levy looked at each of them. She had no words to say. She sat silently as Gray shuffled back to the table after Erza. Natsu stood frozen looking at the ground.

"Natsu, we need to…." Erza began.

"You don't need to do anything." He growled.

Levy looked at Gajeel quickly, wondering if he noticed the slight hint of despair in Natsu normally aggressive growl. As she looked back, she noticed a slightly dark aura around him.

"N-N-Natsu…" Happy approached him cautiously, completely shaking. "We'll get Lucy back." His big, sad eyes glimmered with hope.

"How? When? Why can't we just leave now?! It's not like we don't have lots of time to plan stuff of the way to get her. She's apparently in another country…" He looked up at the group with dead eyes.

"..."

Levy shook her head. "I understand you want her back Natsu." She stood up slowly. "Knowing she's alive isn't enough…" Tears fells. She hadn't wanted anyone to see her cry, especially Gajeel, but she couldn't control herself now, talking about this. "I want to go get her too! But what can I do right now without knowing what country or kingdom she's in?! Loke was supposed to get that information! That's why we have to wait until at least tomorrow!"

Levy could feel Natsu's eyes on her. She could feel all of the emotions rushing through him that rushed through her. "I want my best friend back too!"

* * *

Lisanna sat with her back against the kitchen door. She had arrived early to help Mira with some decoration for the festivities that were quickly approaching. Then Natsu had slammed through the door.

_Natsu ran towards Levy, Gajeel, Erza, and Gray, with Happy trailing behind him carrying a fish in his mouth. "What does this mean?" He set Lucy's keys down in the middle of the table._

_All four looked up at him, their eyes widened in disbelief._

Lisanna could hear Natsu's outburst. "Why can't we just leave now?!" Lisanna shuddered slightly at the thought. Natsu was the type of person to rush right into things, yet he couldn't in this case. Nor could she do anything to help him.

She had run into the kitchen as soon as she saw Lucy's keys. She couldn't think of single thing to do other than to run. This wasn't her problem, yet she had told Natsu she would help him. She sighed softly.

"I understand you want her back Natsu. Knowing she's alive isn't enough…"

_No Levy,_ Lisanna thought. _Knowing Lucy is alive will never be enough for the guild, nor Natsu..._

"I want to go get her too! But what can I do right now without knowing what country or kingdom she's in?! Loke was supposed to get that information! That's why we have to wait until at least tomorrow!"

Lisanna could feel the tension flowing through the cracks in the door, so when she heard Levy's voice again, she stood up and faced the doors.

"I have to go out there and do something. I can't just sit idly by being sorry for myself while one of my friends is in pain." She clasp her hand in a fist fighting herself for the right time to go out there, she heard one final shout.

"I want my best friend back too!"

She shook her head. She walked away from the doors, grabbing a tray of drinks. She took a giant breath, let it out, then walked through those doors with a bright cheery smile on her face. "I think everyone should relax with a drink or two!"

She could feel the eyes turn to her from Levy and Natsu. She walked casually over to the table where the majority of the group was centered. "Don't you think that it's a little too early for everyone to be fighting?" She sat the the tray down on the table. "I mean, you all want to find Lucy right? Let's just work together. I know that we can find her no matter how long it takes. We're Fairy Tail!"

She glanced around at everyone, her eyes resting on Natsu. He remained unmoved. "We're Fairy Tail, right?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah." He slowly began to walk back towards the table, but veered to the door at the last minute. "Let's go Happy. It's time to train."

Lisanna looked at him, knowingly. She remembered what it felt like to lose her family. All that pain and suffering, before finally being reunited with her brother and sister again. No matter how long it would take, she would help Natsu get Lucy back and move on herself. But who?

As Natsu left, she turned back to the group. "So tell me everything. I'm going to help."

* * *

Natsu sprinted through the trees, jumping high into the air. Screaming "First of the Fire Dragon!", he plummeted towards the ground, creating a clearing about three times his size.

"Natsu…" Happy landed beside him.

Natsu sighed to himself. "We'll leave as soon as we talk with Loke tomorrow."

"We'll go save Lucy!"

He scratched Happy's ear, smiling, laying on his back in the crater staring up at the stars shining brightly in the sky.


	7. Chapter 6: A New Friend?

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)**

**_Author's Note: Another chapter! It took me a few days with this one. I hope to have another chapter up in the next two weeks. I'll be on vacation for a week starting Saturday so I'm not sure how much time I'll actually have to work on this. I love hearing what you all have to say! I also don't mind critiques. If you find some inconsistencies, let me know. I can't guarantee that they will all be fixed, but I will do my best to solve the problem! _****_ And I already know who the key is going to be, but who do you think the key is? _****_I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!_****_ Please R&amp;R!_****_  
_**

Chapter 6: A New Friend?

Grey clouds drowned out the normally blue skies. Lucy had seen the clouds over the horizon the morning before she found the key, but they had approached too quickly. After her tears had dried, the rain began to fall, giving her no chance to call on the celestial spirit. She had rushed back to the house, only to find Vesper there. That was a sight for sore eyes. What was worse was that he had brought someone with him. How long he would be staying there, she didn't care to know.

Lucy sighed as she glanced out the window for the fourth day now, finally enjoying some peace and quiet. "Their" guest had been meandering around the house now for days. When he attempted to talk to her, she had quickly walked by, avoiding him. She would find the housekeeper and talk with her for hours on end. Even before the man arrived, Lucy would find herself helping with things around the house when Vesper was out. Lorani hadn't minded it and it helped to pass the time. Today, Lorani had the day off, so no housework would be done, causing her to constantly wish for blues skies so she could go outside and greet the spirit.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to Vesper standing with the guest behind him.

"I want to formally introduce you to our guest, Ryuuji Fujimoto, considering you've been avoiding both me and him since I have returned." Vesper stepped to the side, to let Lucy .

"Nice to meet you, Fujimoto," Lucy responded, formally.

"You can just call me Ryuuji. Fujimoto is my father."

Lucy nodded slightly, before turning back to look outside. Losing herself in her daydreams was going to be harder now. She decided to watch their reflection in the window.

Vesper looked at Ryuuji then back at Lucy. "You can at least talk with our guest for a few moments. He will be staying with us for some time, so at least be cordial." Vesper addressed Ryuuji next. "I will be in the study if you need me. Lorani is out for the day, so we all have to fend for dinner ourselves."

Ryuuji nodded at him, then Vesper took off up the stairs to the second floor. He stood there for a moment, awkwardly looking at Lucy. Then he turned at sat in one of the chairs, opening a book he had been holding.

Lucy hadn't noticed the book before. She looked him up and down. He donned a pair of khaki shorts, a blue vest, and glasses. His orange hair fell slightly into his face, a complete mess. The book he held had a brown cover, with a title she couldn't make out clearly. She turned around on the window seat to face him. Looking him over again, she cautiously began to talk, "Uhm…. What are you reading?"

He didn't seem to notice at first. Lucy thought he hadn't heard her. "Uhm…. Ryuuji…."

He closed the book. "Sorry. I had to finish that last paragraph. Now what were you asking?"

"What's the book about?" Lucy stood up, walking towards him.

He held up the book. "It's a study of magic and how it's affected the kingdom."

"Do you mind?" Lucy slightly put her hand out as if she wanted to take the book.

Ryuuji handed the book over to her. She looked at it slowly, not able to read any of the writing. "What language is this?"

Ryuuji studied Lucy for a moment before responding. "You're not from anywhere near here are you?"

Lucy shook her head. "No. I'm not from this country."

"It's the native language of Pergrande."

"Oh, I guess it's very common then?" Lucy turned the book over in her hands.

"Only written. You'll rarely hear it unless you find some remote region in the mountains."

Lucy smiled. "I have a friend who would extremely interested in this kind of thing. She loves to study ancient languages and the like." She handed the book back to him. "Do you mind telling me about that book sometime?"

He smiled. "Sure. Anytime you'd like. Did Vez not tell you I'd be staying here for a few months?"

Lucy shook her head. "I'm not exactly on good terms with him..."

"Really?" His smile faded away. "The way he made it sound, you guys are an item."

She began to stare blankly out the window. He was breaching into uncomfortable territory. Lucy had been attempting to forget those memories, but they flooded back into her mind. She did not want to remember them at all. Not one thing. "He may say as he pleases," she said, her voice very flat. As she stood up, she said, "I have a few things I need to take care of."

He looked up, his eyebrows raised in surprise by her sudden change of mood. "Alright. I'll talk to you later then." His eyes followed her out of the room.

She sprinted up the stairs and ran towards her bedroom, locking the door behind her as she entered. She walked over to her bed, landing face first in the pillows. She wanted to scream, but that would do no good. She could remember those times that Vesper had attempted to taken advantage of her before their arrival here. They burned in the back of her mind.

_She lay in bed, drifting off to sleep as she heard a door creak open. Light footsteps padded their way towards her bed, followed by a slight movement of a person sitting down behind her. She rolled over onto her back to get a better view of the person. Partially dreaming, she thought she saw Natsu, leaning towards her, kissing her, but as soon as she felt that hand running up her thigh, she had known it wasn't him. Natsu would have been warm, if not burning hot. This hand was cold to the touch._

_She jolted up, knocking Vesper back. As he attempted to advance again, she moved away from him. "Stay away from me." He grabbed her wrist, causing her to slap him with her other hand. When he didn't let go, she dug her nails into his arm, causing him to pull away._

_"You bitch." He grabbed his arm, which had begun to bleed. He staggered out of the room, obviously drunk. Lucy followed him to the door, locking it after it shut. She walked back to the bed and collapsed, sighing with relief, yet one thought stuck in her mind. What if he had been sober?_

Lucy shuddered. She rolled onto her side, hugging a pillow. She wanted nothing but to see Natsu's smiling face, telling her that Fairy Tail was waiting for her. They were all waiting for her and hopefully attempting to find her by now.

Completely forgetting about the key, she began to drift off to sleep, dreaming of Fairy Tail and the giant celebration they would have when she was finally home.


	8. Chapter 7: A Minstrel's Advice

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)**

**Author's Note: I want to apologize for this taking so long. Life got in the way and I've been periodically working on a part for this chapter specifically because it kind of explores more of a plot than I had originally intended for this. So... I apologize again. And we probably won't see Lucy for quite some time as I need to develop a few things with the group first, not to mention plan what will be happening with her.**

Chapter 7: A Minstrel's Tale

"We will be docking in Minstrel in five minutes. We would like to thank you for choosing..." The feminine voice blasted through the speakers. Natsu rolled over onto his right side, still clutching his stomach. He blocked out the sound of the speaker and attempted to sleep slightly longer.

A few minutes later, a door slammed open and shut quickly. "Natsu!" a voice called.

"Nnnnnnn," Natsu groaned.

"Natsu!" The voice practically screamed in his ear.

"Just throw him out the window," another voice said.

"We shouldn't do that," said a third.

"It's the only way to actually get him to move. Troia wore off on the first day. He's had a week's worth of sickness since we've been on this boat," the second voice said.

"Well… If that will work…"

Natsu felt himself being lifted off the seat by someone, Gray by the smell of it. Happy had to be to the right of Gray, which left the third smell as Lisanna. "Don't lift me up… I'm gonna be sick…." Natsu opened his eyes to him flying out the window, landing on a dock face first. "...a bloody nose now…."

He sat up and rubbed his nose. _No bloody nose,_ he thought, _but I know who's going to have one shortly._

A market was lined up along the streets around the harbour. Natsu's nose picked out the scent of fish while his ears were directed back towards the boat, listening to his teammates as they clambered of the recently docked boat.

"You're almost as bad as Natsu! I can't carry you off the ship!"

"Squirt…"

"I shall carry him off the ship. Just let me transform." _Poof!_ "I forgot how heavy metal can be."

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey, Erza!"

"You weren't supposed to throw Natsu out the window!"

"Erza, you might want to go easy on him."

"I agree with Charle-lu!"

"Shush Happy. Shouldn't you go find Natsu?"

"Natsu!"

Natsu looked towards the ramp from the boat, getting a face full of a flying blue furball. "Happy! Where's our stuff?"

"Lisanna was carrying it."

"Well then, you wanna go get some fish?"

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew off towards the fish stand while Natsu followed quickly behind.

"How much for the fish, mister?" Natsu asked the merchant.

"That'll be about..."

"Too much money to spend. We're on a limited budget you know." Levy popped up beside them. "Besides, Gray is Erza's first casualty. You don't need to be her second."

"Serves him right, and we'll take four."

Natsu and Happy happily munched on fish while the group headed towards the lodge they were staying at. Gray, Erza, Lisanna, Wendy, Charle, Levy, Gajeel, and Pantherlily walked ahead of them. They all discussed what they wanted to do while they waited for their informant to show up.

Before they had left Magnolia, Loke had informed them that he had a found a few informants in Minstrel who could tell them what Vesper had been up to while he was there. Loke had not had time to talk to them all as he had only a few short hours to set everything up. He told them he would pop in periodically when he found another informant, especially if the information they were told would turn up dry.

Natsu's ears perked up as they passed a singer a block away from the lodge. The melancholic lute fluttered along the breeze, yet the lyrics drew him in the most.

"Beyond the veil lay dreams torn apart  
by war and hatred. He had no heart  
to call his own. Stealing other loves,  
he hid their souls from the Gods above."

Natsu stopped in front of the musician. A small group had formed around the singer, listening to his song, dropping a few coins into his hat. _Something's strange,_ Natsu thought, _but what is it?_

"Doesn't he look like he's paying close attention to you?" a voice whispered in his ear.

Natsu turned towards Gajeel. "You noticed it too, eh?"

Gajeel nodded, keeping his gaze on the singer. "I have a feeling this won't be the only time we'll see him."

Natsu shrugged. He listened to the singer for a minute more, then continued along the road to the inn.

Once everyone had settled into their rooms, they met back up in the lobby to discuss times. The first informant, Erza mentioned, would meet with the group in the garden next to their lodge around 8pm. They had approzimately six hours to become familiar with their new surroundings, as they would be staying about a week. (Luckily, the lodging was fairly inexpensive, especially with Loke pulling strings. He had charmed the woman running the business, with plenty of flattery. "What a womanizer," the girls had responded when they heard that.) Natsu and Happy wandered off fairly quickly after that.

* * *

"Natsu!" A voice called out. "Where is that blasted dragon slayer?" she muttered after a period of silence.

"The one you are looking for is sleeping," a voice called out from the tree up ahead.

Lisanna looked up at the tree. "You're the bard we passed earlier, are you not?"

The man nodded in response. He jumped, or floated (as Lisanna would describe her encounter later), to the ground. He stood roughly to her shoulder. He had a white, scraggly beard and wore peasant clothes and a royal blue velvet vest.

"Are y' just going to stare at me or do ye want answers, girl?"

Slightly taken aback, Lisanna replied, "How do you know I have questions?"

"E'eryone has questions."

"Oh... Well, you think you could answer mine?"

He looked around him slightly. "I can give y'a touch ol' tune on my harp here but songs ain't what yer lookin' for not is't?"

Lisanna nodded her head.

"Yer Lion who set you up with people knew some pretty good folks, but they might not be tellin' the 'ole truth. Ye must be careful with who ye trust."

She nodded her head slowly. "We know."

"No, ye don't know. Tha' man yer dealin' with, he caused trouble 'ere too. Us bards chased 'im off."

Lisanna looked at him slightly. "How do you know what we're supposed to be doing?"

The man laughed. "Yer friend talks in 'is sleep." He grinned. "Ye best be careful now."

In the blink of an eye, the man vanished. Lisanna looked towards the meadow past the tree where she saw another one with Natsu laying on his back and Happy leaning against the tree. She walked towards them for a minute, then decided to let them rest a bit longer before she woke them. She leaned up against the tree where the man had been and closed her eyes herself. A breeze ruffled her hair as she felt the spots of sunlight soak into her skin. A soft tune on the the breeze wafted into her thoughts, filling her with excitement and dread. The sound was faint but she knew who sung the tune.

Natsu heard the tune also as he lay in the shade of a sycamore tree. It carried a soft melacholic tune as he opened he eyes slightly, a frown appeared on his face.

"Follow the river up to the meadow where a maiden fair waits.  
A fellow in blue smiles to you hiding behind the gates.  
A war will be waged, a country torn apart, yet that has alre'y begun.  
The country in need will turn towards the stars, looking only for one."


End file.
